I am a plastic surgeon in Little Rock, AR. I used to "suture for a living", I continue "to live to sew". These days most of my sewing is piecing quilts. I love the patterns and interplay of the fabric color. I would like to explore writing about medical/surgical topics as well as sewing/quilting topics. I will do my best to make sure both are represented accurately as I share with both colleagues and the general public.

Quilts of Valor

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Friday, June 4, 2010

Several years back, my mother gave me a stack of old scarves she had embroidered through the years. She thought I might be able to make a quilt of them. I actually made several – one for her and one for each sister. Here is the one I gave to my sister Susan.

I tried to look at the embroidered areas of each scarf, considering the size and shape of the area, as well as the condition after years of use.

As with many of my quilts, I failed to take photos along the way. This blog (and digital cameras) are helping me change that. I remind you (and myself) of that, as the photos here were sent by my sister. I would have loved to have some that show the details better, but beggars can’t be choosey.

This one is 58 in X 78 in. It is machine pieced (not sure about the quilting). It uses four “hole in the barn door” blocks, two basket blocks, two hexagon blocks, and two six-pointed star “flowers.”

*** Update June 8, 2010—email from my sister states “I finally found where you signed your quilt. The ink is so faint I did not see it. The quilt was pieced by you and quilted by mom and given to me Sept 7, 2000.”

Here you can see some detail, though not as clear as I would like. Note the duck and marshes in the hexagon. Here is another detail shot.

3 comments:

Our neighbor's daughter, who is in her third year of college, just decided to let her mom make a big quilt from all her saved elementary, middle, and high school athletic shirts. Should be nice, but what a great idea. Your family is lucky to get these heirlooms...

I was thinking as I read this, how great to have something like that. It holds the memories of love from your mother to all of you, and this gives you something solid to hold onto(Your sister in this case). Beautiful, Ramona.

I love when you point out certain things on your quilts. Sometimes, in a photo I can't make something out, but once you describe it, then I see it as you do.

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My purpose in writing my blog is to attempt to provide good solid medical information on topics of my choosing. It is a way to educate myself, my colleagues, and the general public. References will be provided on medical posts, but not on opinion essays or poetry posts. An additional purpose is to share my interest in quilting topics, a way to show my human side.

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